Immediately after the War, Stonehouse returned to Dachau to make sketches of the crematoria, in order to “bear witness” (these drawings are currently held at the Imperial War Museum in London). Read: Japanese soldier who refused to surrender dies He survived only because he was able to draw the guards’ wives and mistresses in exchange for extra food and shelter. He spent the rest of the war in various prisons and camps, including in the notorious Dachau concentration camp. In October 1942, the Gestapo were able to triangulate his position during a secret transmission, and Stonehouse was arrested. He even painted a portrait of Britain’s Queen Mother, which hangs in the Special Forces Club in London to this day.īut this was not before he had spent almost three years in captivity. That Stonehouse was nearly given away by his clothing is ironic: after the War he enjoyed a stellar career as a fashion illustrator, becoming one of the leading artists for Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. “Maybe he was wearing French shoes to start with but they got ruined, so he changed them at a safe house.
“He told the story to his sister, but she isn’t sure how the mistake occurred,” says Philip Athill, managing director of the Abbot and Holder Ltd art dealer in London, who has collected Stonehouse’s work. Knowing that something as insignificant as a British button on his jacket could give the game away, SOE’s Camouflage Section had painstakingly made Stonehouse’s clothes using French fabric, styles and techniques.īut for some reason, he was still wearing British-made shoes. On the train that day he was carrying a paintbox that had been specially adapted to contain a secret transmitter – the one he had managed to rescue from the tree.Īt that time, the life expectancy of an SOE radio operator in occupied France was just six weeks. Stonehouse had been trained as a clandestine radio operator, and given the codename Celestin. Thereafter, he had gone to ground for two weeks, living on nothing but stolen peaches – a diet which had left him with acute dysentery – before risking the train journey to Limoges to make contact with a spy network known as “Ventriloquist”.
On landing in France, his radio transmitter had become tangled in a tree, and his first few days had been wasted trying to retrieve it without attracting attention. Rather, it was a cover used by Brian Stonehouse, a British spy and talented artist who had parachuted into France the month before as part of the legendary Special Operations Executive (SOE), a clandestine espionage and sabotage unit. Michel Chapuis, of course, was not his real name. And, after surviving three Vichy prisons and five Nazi concentration camps, he became one of the most prominent fashion illustrators of his age. Luckily, none of the German soldiers overheard this conversation, and he lived to fight another day. “C’est extraordinaire,” he replied, affecting nonchalance. “Before the War, my brother had beautiful English shoes like yours,” she said. Michel Chapuis, a charismatic, French art student on assignment for Vogue magazine, was traveling on a busy train alongside peasants and German soldiers. YOU SHOULD SEE: A preview of the new Dior Illustrated exhibition.Occupied France, July 1941. YOU SHOULD SEE: More beautiful fashion illustrations here. "This exhibition shows illustration is certainly not over." All designers start with drawing and that's the link," said McDowell. "It is so important because it gets to the soul of creativity. "I want this exhibition to kick-start people in thinking 'Why don't we use illustration again?' I collect Vogues and my favourite one is from 1923 - it's so beautiful because of its drawings."įilm clips and rare magazine covers will also feature in the exhibition, alongside examples of the couture clothes shown in the drawings. "Each drawing exemplifies the period it came from which is why illustration is so special," McDowell told us at last night's preview party. Curated by fashion curator Colin McDowell, the exhibition showcases each illustrator at the height of their careers. These original works reflect the artistic style of each decade, through Art Nouveau to Art Deco to Pop Art. Drawing Fashion features the work of well known figures including Lepape, Gruau and Antonio, as well as contemporary artists, namely Aurore de la Morinerie and Francois Berthoud. THE world's most iconic illustrations from the past century will be showcased in a unique exhibition at the Design Museum.
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